Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Playa del Carmen and Princes Town

For one person, living is cheaper in Princes Town: $769 a month against $1,204 in Playa del Carmen, rent and utilities included – about $5,200 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

58

Cost of Living Index in Playa del Carmen
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Playa del Carmen Living Index
37

Cost of Living Index in Princes Town
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Princes Town Living Index

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Playa del Carmen

🇲🇽 Mexico

$1,204

/mo nomad

Princes Town

🇹🇹 Trinidad And Tobago

$769

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Playa del Carmen and in Princes Town

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Playa del Carmen and in Princes Town actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

A single person spends $1,204 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $769 in Princes Town, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $1,204
Princes Town $769

A couple spends around $2,082 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,317 in Princes Town, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,082
Princes Town $1,317

A family of three spends $2,959 per month in Playa del Carmen vs $1,866 in Princes Town, rent included.

Playa del Carmen $2,959
Princes Town $1,866

Playa del Carmen costs about 57% more than Princes Town, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in leisure.

Both Playa del Carmen and Princes Town are more affordable than the global median – Playa del Carmen 12% lower, Princes Town 43% lower.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$10.92 MX$205

$10.38 TTD 69.7

5.20%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$43.37 MX$815

$59.3 TTD 398

-26.89%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.78 MX$221

$8.22 TTD 55.2

43.31%

Cappuccino

$3.81 MX$71.6

$3.69 TTD 24.75

3.25%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.28 MX$24.10

$1.00 TTD 6.72

28.00%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.78 MX$14.71

$0.76 TTD 5.12

2.63%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.17 MX$59.5

$1.82 TTD 12.22

74.18%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.93 MX$92.7

$2.65 TTD 17.78

86.04%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.41 MX$26.43

$1.99 TTD 13.35

-29.15%

White Bread (500g)

$2.22 MX$41.66

$2.26 TTD 15.15

-1.77%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.42 MX$26.64

$2.77 TTD 18.56

-48.74%

Eggs

$2.52 MX$47.41

$3.77 TTD 25.28

-33.16%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$7.26 MX$137

$6.72 TTD 45.11

8.04%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.70 MX$145

$10.18 TTD 68.3

-24.36%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.69 MX$239

$8.96 TTD 60.2

41.63%

Apples (1kg)

$2.78 MX$52.3

$5.55 TTD 37.22

-49.91%

Banana (1kg)

$1.37 MX$25.71

$2.55 TTD 17.10

-46.27%

Oranges (1kg)

$2.55 MX$47.94

$3.73 TTD 25.03

-31.64%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.12 MX$39.90

$4.17 TTD 27.96

-49.16%

Potato (1kg)

$1.94 MX$36.43

$0.77 TTD 5.17

151.95%

Onion (1kg)

$1.89 MX$35.44

$0.76 TTD 5.10

148.68%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.15 MX$21.55

$1.51 TTD 10.15

-23.84%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.18 MX$22.16

$1.21 TTD 8.11

-2.48%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$4.30 MX$80.7

$5.55 TTD 37.24

-22.52%

Wine (Bottle)

$9.95 MX$187

$17.53 TTD 118

-43.24%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.58 MX$29.76

$1.49 TTD 9.99

6.04%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.67 MX$50.2

$3.06 TTD 20.51

-12.75%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.55 MX$10.40

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$26.62 MX$500

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.97 MX$93.4

$0.87 TTD 5.85

471.26%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$3.33 MX$62.6

$0.92 TTD 6.19

261.96%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$5.36 MX$101

$14.69 TTD 98.6

-63.51%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.44 MX$27.14

$1.15 TTD 7.75

25.22%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$20.7K MX$388.4K

$36.4K TTD 244.0K

-43.17%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$23.5K MX$441.0K

$41.2K TTD 276.4K

-43.04%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$84.8 MX$1,594

$44.96 TTD 302

88.59%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$23.41 MX$440

$41.69 TTD 280

-43.85%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$28.66 MX$539

$46.38 TTD 311

-38.21%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$57.1 MX$1,072

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$28.91 MX$543

Cinema Ticket

$5.14 MX$96.6

$8.79 TTD 59.0

-41.52%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$207 MX$3,882

$402 TTD 2,697

-48.62%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$3,927 MX$73.8K

$11.0K TTD 73.7K

-64.26%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$43.35 MX$815

$53.9 TTD 362

-19.60%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$41.44 MX$779

$37.01 TTD 248

11.97%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$74.2 MX$1,394

$88.3 TTD 593

-15.98%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$89.3 MX$1,677

$89.9 TTD 603

-0.69%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$980 MX$18.4K

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$381 MX$7,157

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,708 MX$32.1K

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,075 MX$20.2K

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$3,943 MX$74.1K

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,158 MX$115.7K

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$735 MX$13.8K

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

11.45

5.75

99.13%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Playa del Carmen: October 25, 2026

Last update for Princes Town: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Playa del Carmen

$381 31.6%

Princes Town

- * 0% 100%

Groceries & Markets

Playa del Carmen

$255 21.2%

Princes Town

$318 41.4% 25% $64

Eating Out

Playa del Carmen

$202 16.8%

Princes Town

$173 22.6% 14.3% $29

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Playa del Carmen

$137 11.4%

Princes Town

$133 17.3% 2.8% $3.8

Clothing & Footwear

Playa del Carmen

$112 9.3%

Princes Town

$121 15.8% 8.4% $9.4

Sport & Entertainment

Playa del Carmen

$67 5.6%

Princes Town

$18 * 2.3% 73.9% $50

Getting Around

Playa del Carmen

$50 4.2%

Princes Town

$5.5 * 0.7% 89.1% $45

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A mid-range dinner for two costs $43 in Playa del Carmen versus $59 in Princes Town. Monthly groceries follow the same trend: $255 vs $318 – making Playa del Carmen the more affordable choice for daily food spending.

Good to know

🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

🇹🇹 Princes Town

🕒 Local time

05:48 5:48 AM

06:48 6:48 AM

1 h ahead of Playa del Carmen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

149,923

10,000

💱 Currency

Mexican Peso MXN $

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar TTD $

📈 Exchange rate

100 MXN = 5.32 USD

100 MXN = 4.77 EUR

1 TTD = 0.149 USD

1 TTD = 0.134 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TTD, USD, EUR to MXN – Mexican Peso Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇲🇽 Mexican Peso ($)

Mexican Peso exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 18.79 MXN (100 MXN = 5.32 USD). 1 EUR = 20.97 MXN (100 MXN = 4.77 EUR).

Trinidad and Tobago Dollar exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 6.71 TTD (1 TTD = 0.149 USD). 1 EUR = 7.49 TTD (1 TTD = 0.134 EUR).

USD to MXN in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Playa del Carmen Princes Town 2,980 km ≈ 4 h 15 min nonstop flight

From you

Playa del Carmen
Princes Town

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Playa del Carmen vs Princes Town: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Yes – Playa del Carmen is pricier by about 57%, and outside of rent the gap shows up most in leisure.

For a comfortable life, plan on about $1,806 per month in Playa del Carmen and $1,154 in Princes Town. That covers rent, food, utilities, transport, and enough left over to feel settled – not just surviving.

Monthly expenses with rent come to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen and $769 in Princes Town. That makes Princes Town about 36% cheaper.

Kindergarten costs $207 per month in Playa del Carmen and $402 in Princes Town. For families with young kids, this one expense can tip the scales when choosing between the two cities.

A $1,000 monthly budget goes further in Princes Town, where all-in costs run around $769, than in Playa del Carmen at $1,204. In Princes Town it covers expenses comfortably, while in Playa del Carmen it requires careful planning or may not stretch far enough.

It depends on your priorities. Playa del Carmen has an edge in some lifestyle areas, with costs from $769 in Princes Town to $1,204 in Playa del Carmen. Climate, culture, job market, and personal taste all factor in.